The new coronavirus has hit the Super Liga once again. Finally, four players from Ishikawa's team Milan have tested positive, and the last two games of the first half have been postponed, with no date set for when they will be played. However, there was some good news: Ai Takahashi will be making his Italian debut.
Ai Takahashi makes early Italian debut in Padua
Ai Takahashi arrived in Italy last week, and in the first match after joining the team, he was on the bench for the first time and made his first appearance, making his Italian debut early on. He really has it.
The opponent on this day was the strong Modena. With Padova's momentum at one point, they were not an insurmountable opponent, but on this day they were not doing well. The young ace Bottolo (Italy), who was named the Serie A November MVP, was in poor form with an attack success rate of less than 30%. The setter, Zimmermann (Germany), was also unable to make corrections, and before you know it, Modena took two sets in a row.
With the score still behind in the third set, Takahashi was given his turn to play when the starting lineup was changed. His uniform number is 14, the same as Ishikawa's. Soon after he entered the match, Modena's opposite, Nimir (Netherlands), targeted him with a serve and sent the ball back to the opponent's court. However, after that, although he didn't get many opportunities to touch the ball, he showed good plays such as stable serve reception, a serve that broke down the opponent, and turning difficult high sets into points. The cheers of the Padua fans when Takahashi entered the match and played were amazing. As a Japanese person, it's very nice to see scenes like this.
Anyway, Ai Takahashi showed impressive play in her debut match. We are looking forward to seeing her in the second half of the season after Christmas!
Top 2 clash! Civitanova vs Perugia
Another notable match is a showdown between Perugia, currently at the top of the league, and Civitanova, currently in second place. However, due to the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, Perugia will be missing their opposite Lihilicki (Luxembourg) and wing Anderson (USA), while Civitanova will be missing their mainstay Juan Torena (Italy) due to injury, meaning neither team is in top condition for the match.
However, Perugia's replacement players are Ter Horst (Netherlands) on the opposite and Plotnicki (Ukraine) on the wing, the same starting lineup as last season (lol). Meanwhile, Civitanova will replace Juan Torena with young Yanto (Cuba), but he is not doing well in the early stages, perhaps due to fatigue from the World Club Championship.
Civitanova then won the third set, but then Lucarelli had to withdraw due to injury in the middle of the third set. Koval (Italy) took his place, but he didn't have enough firepower. Meanwhile, Perugia's Leon (Poland) was unstoppable with an attack success rate of 751 TP3T, and Perugia won 3-1.
Perugia has too many players. It's also great that they have two players who can play both OP and OH, Ter Horst and Anderson. It's also a shame that Plotnicki is on the bench. I want to see more (laughs).
On the other hand, Civitanova is in a tough spot. They only have Janto and Koval on the side... Lucarelli seems to be in a pretty bad condition, so I wonder if Zaitsev, who just recovered, might play on the side. But Janto and Zaitsev would probably be too hard on the reception, so I guess not (lol). I'm looking forward to the Padua match on the 26th. Takahashi too (lol).
Results
First Half Round 13
Saturday, December 18th
Padua - Modena 0 - 3
(22-25, 21-25, 18-25)
Sunday, December 19
Monza - Verona 3 - 2
(25-17, 23-25, 26-24, 22-25, 17-15)
Civitanova - Perugia 1 - 3
(15-25, 20-25, 30-28, 21-25)
Taranto - Milan Postponed
Trento – Cisterna 3 – 0
(25-15, 25-14, 25-22)
Thursday, December 23
Verona - Piacenza 3-2
(18-25, 25-22, 15-25, 25-20, 15-10)
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